Our Changeboard Op-ed on Work Stress

Three British psychologists, Hans Bosma, Steven Stansfeld and Michael Marmot, spent five years studying the stress levels of more than 10,000 British civil servants.

Their findings showed that men perceiving little control over their jobs are 50% more likely to develop heart disease than those feel as if they are in control. For women, it’s worse – the risk is 100% higher.

The root cause of all this suffering is a universal human need for responsibility and freedom in work. In bureaucratic organisations only people with control – managers – can potentially escape from procedures; most of employees who are at the bottom of the hierarchy have their need for control over their tasks denied.